


New Opportunities

by sleeplittlechild



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 10:27:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20619515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeplittlechild/pseuds/sleeplittlechild
Summary: Now that Fjord's got his new powers with the Wildmother, he feels like he needs something to mark the occasion. And he knows just who to ask.





	New Opportunities

“Hey...hey, Nott”

Late a night, fresh from their trip through the Flotket Alps, Fjord appearing at Nott’s door was the last thing Nott expected. Especially when she ought to be worrying about seeing Yeza and Luc tomorrow, about traveling back into the Empire, about Caleb having to face Ikithon after so many years. When so much should be on her mind, Fjord was the last thing to enter it.

“Uhm, hey, Fjord.” Nott scratched behind her ear. “What can I do you for?”

Fjord started swinging his arms back and forth, rubbing his lips over his tusks. Now that Nott had opened the door, he seemed determined to not look at her. “Right. So...I know it’s late but I, I didn’t want everybody knowing about this.”

“Know about what? What’s going on?” Nott leaned in close. “Are your powers gone again?”

“No. No. Everything...everything’s working just fine.”

“Okay good. Because the Wildmother seems pretty cool, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you pissed her off enough that she pulled an Uk’otoa.”

Fjord raised an eyebrow. “‘An Uk’otoa.’ Is that what we’re calling it?”

“That’s what  _ I’m _ calling it.” Fjord nodded along. Nott could see him hiding his smile. “But you know...if that ever does happen, you should tell us. Or even just...go back to your accent. That way, we’ll know if we need to, like, I don’t know, go on an epic quest to get them back or whatever.”

Fjord gave a thumbs-up. “Accent - powers are gone. Gotcha. But that, wasn’t what I came here for.”

“Oh. Then what did you need?”

“Well. As you know, like you just said, I have these new powers from the Wildmother. And I felt like...I should... _ do _ . Something. To honor this. And I was wondering...your ears are pierced.”

On cue, Nott’s ears lowered. She fingered the hoop dangling off her right ear. “They are.”

“Did the goblins do that, or…”

“No, I did. I...I had pierced ears when I was a halfling. It was the only thing that made me feel like...me, when it all happened.”

“Could you do mine?”

Nott raised an eyebrow. “You...want me to pierce your ears?”

“Just the one, for now.”

“You never...isn’t that like, the first thing sailors do? Get earrings?”

“Vandren never liked jewelry. He always made sure his crew was clean-cut and no piercings.” Nott made a small “hmm” sound. She didn’t know what she’d do with that information now, but she had it. “So...what do you think?”

“Uhm...well, I’d need a needle. And we should probably get Jester or Caduceus - there’s gonna be blood.”

Fjord waved a hand. “I can deal with a little blood.”

“Really? Like, I know that you’re all-powerful now, but you’re very weak.”

Fjord’s half smile weakened as he glared down at Nott. “I’ll be fine, Nott.”

“Okay.” Nott dragged the syllable out, like she didn’t believe him. She did, but it was more fun to tease him. “I still need a needle.”

“Do you think Caleb would have one?”

A short message to Caleb - and then to everyone else - and they came to the conclusion that there was not one sewing needle in the Xhorhaus. “Which is ridiculous - how many times do our clothes rip from fights?”

“Jester has mending. We’ve just been spoiled.”

Caduceus kindly mentioned that there was a general store not far down the street and that they never truly seemed to close. “They’ve actually got a nice tea collection.” He said in his usual perplexing way.

So now Nott and Fjord were walking to the general store, a tin of tea from Caduceus in Nott’s arms “as a peace offering.”

“So what all do we need?”

Nott breathed in. They’d gone over this list three times already. “Sewing needle - metal, so we can sterilize it and I can use it again later. Block of wood. Ice...lots of it. Bandages, to clean up the blood.”

“...Don’t we need...you know, the actual earring?”

Nott shifted the tin in her arms. “Leave that to me.”

Fjord’s thought, while he was holding a chunk of ice under his ear, that Nott’s bed was too big for her. They had given her a big bed for her and Yeza to sleep together, but it felt like they have grossly overestimated how much room a three foot couple would need. Now that Yeza was in Nicrodranas...Nott must feel so lonely in her room.

“Fifteen minutes - you should be ready to go now.” Nott climbed onto the bed up to sit beside Fjord’s head. In one hand she had a candle and some matches, in the other she had her flask.

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to do this drunk. I’d rather go fight the Laughing Hand right now, then let you do this to me drunk.”

Nott’s foot twitched and hit him in the shoulder. Fjord wasn’t at all convinced it was an accident. “It’s for sterilization. Unless you want a burnt needle sliding through your weak tender flesh.”

“Alright. As long as you never say “tender flesh” again either.”

Nott rolled her eyes. Fjord strained his neck to watch what she was doing. Between her feet she held the candle steady as she struck a match to light the wick. They’d bought a long silver needle the size of a fourth of Fjord’s pinkie and just as long. Nott pinched it between her claws and held it above the flame. It didn’t take long for the metal to burnish black.

Nott placed it down on the bed. She grabbed one of the bandages on the other side of Fjord and tipped her flask into it. She wiped the bandage along the length of the metal.

“So...what should I expect?”

Nott bit her lip. “Do you really want to know? Because I remember trying to convince Yeza and knowing what it felt like made him never want to get pierced again.”

“Good point.”

Nott tossed the bandage aside. “Are you ready?”

Fjord shifted. He resituated himself, staring up at the ceiling. If he could, he would have shrugged his shoulders. “As ready as I - ow!”

As soon as Fjord had looked away, in a quick flash, Nott had grabbed the ice and stabbed the needle in. Fjord felt the tip of the needle touching his suddenly empty hand the same time he distantly heard the ice clattering to some corner of Nott’s room.

The needle was stuck inside his ear. Fjord almost felt nauseous.

“What the hell, Nott?”

“Misdirection. Attack when they’re not expecting it.” Fjord tried to turn to look at Nott, but she held a hand on his head. “Hold still. If you move, you’re gonna tear the hole and I don’t think you’re ready for a gauge.”

“Aren’t those those big hole earrings?”

“Yup.”

Fjord stayed still and instead looked at Nott out of the corner of his eye. Her ears were lowered down by her side and she was looking at something just above his head.

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Move your ears. Is that a you thing or…”

“Goblin thing. I guess because they’re so big, I have more control of them.” Probably to demonstrate, Nott’s ears stood straight up like a dog’s, then flattened back behind her.

“It’s...kind of cool. Wish my ears could do that.” Fjord thought really hard about his ears to see if they would wiggle, at least. They did not. He tried moving his eyebrows but to no avail. Nott put her hand back on his head, giving a small squeeze at his temples. 

“I told you not to move.” Nott’s voice is a lot closer now, so Fjord obeys. He feels the needle pulling through his ear and suppresses a shudder. It’s one thing to feel getting stabbed - it’s a very recent memory that he’s been dealing with. Being run through is a different experience. One that he’s happy to isolate to this one happenstance. Something else fills the space and he hears  _ through _ his ear...something. He can’t see, so he’s not sure what Nott is fitting him with. “And...done. There you go - one earring. If you want the other one done, you’re gonna have to wait till tomorrow so we can buy one from the jeweler.”

Nott shuffled back. Fjord saw her make a shoo-ing motion with her hands; he took it as a sign he could sit up. Fjord felt at his ear and his nails caught on a small piece dangling off his ear. Nott had a small vanity on top a chest of drawers. Fjord walked over to it. There are the bottom of his ear was a golden hoop catching the firelight.

“Wow Nott. That was really…” Fjord caught himself mid-sentence, turning around and looking at Nott. Nott, meanwhile, was threading a circle through the piercing on her right ear. Fjord just stared for a moment, letting it all slot together.

Her left ear had a small stud stuck in the meat of it. Her right had a small gold hoop.

Her nose was also pierced through the center with circle.

_ “Don’t we need, you know, the actual earring?” _

_ “Leave that to me.” _

Fjord fingered the earring. “You used one of yours?”

“Hmm?” Nott looked up at him, and then looked away. “Yes, well...all the shops were closed. No point in poking your ear just to have to do it all over because we didn’t have anything to fill it.” She secured the circle in place and let her hands drop into her lap.

“Nott…” Fjord didn’t know what to do. Just saying “Thank you” seemed hollow, not enough. It wasn’t like him, but he sort of wanted to hug her. She’d probably punch him in the gut if he tried.

“Anyway, keep that in for about a month or so. Clean it at night - you probably wanna sleep on your other side tonight, so it doesn’t snag. Move it around so the hole doesn’t close up too much. And...that’s all the stuff I remember.”

“Thanks, Nott. I really appreciate it. Really, I do.”

Nott looked up at him. She smiled at him in the dim firelight. “Congrats on your new...patron, god? What’s your new deal?”

“I’m not sure but...we’ll figure it out, won’t we?”

“Yeah...yeah we will.” Nott sighed. “Good night, Fjord.”

“Good night, Nott.”

The next morning, the Mighty Nein woke very early. They planned to leave for Nicodranas as soon as possible. Caduceus’s breakfast spread was plentiful, but bare-boned. Enough to be eaten in a hurry.

Fjord arrived second to last, but not from upstairs. He walked in through the front door.

“Fjord, where were you?”

“Oh, I just went - ”

“Is that an earring?!” Jester pounced on him. She grabbed at his shoulder and yanked him down to stare at his ear (at the earring would be more precise, but it  _ felt _ like Jester was staring at the earring as a whole.) “When did that happen? Oh my god, what did it feel like? Where did you get? What? What? What?”

“Woah, woah. Calm down. I don’t know...I just felt like having a change now that the Wildmother is watching over me.” Fjord tried to stand straight, but Jester’s strength kept him awkwardly hunched.

“Looks cool. Like you’re a proper pirate.” Beau raised her mug of coffee, feet on the table. “Welcome to club, Captain.”

Caduceus raised his own mug from where he was standing at the kitchen stove.

Nott  _ was _ the last to appear. She was  _ not _ an early riser - this was something they’d all accepted long into traveling together. Caleb pushed a stein of coffee into her hands as soon as she entered and guided her to sit at the table. Beau pushed a plate in front of her with her foot.

Fjord managed to duck under Jester’s grasp and break free. Jester tipped forward and Fjord reached out to right her. “It’s really cool, Fjord!” She smiled brightly at him before moving back to her breakfast. Fjord smiled back at her and moved to the table himself. Not to his spot, but to Nott’s.

“Got you something.” He muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. (He knew, because her ear twitched to the sound of his voice.) He placed a small box next to her plate. Fjord reached out and gently bumped his fist against her shoulder. Fjord moved away to his own seat and began filling up his plate with eggs and sausage.

Nott, bleary-eyed and really only half-awake, glared at the box. A minute passed before she put down the stein of coffee. It made a hollow sound - it was already empty. She opened up the box.

Inside was an intricate golden hoop with green beads and at the center was a small glass opal. Golden balls rounded out the ends.

_ Don’t let yours close up just for me. All your jewelry looks good, too. -Fjord. _


End file.
